I toured Concord. Take a look inside the discontinued supersonic commercial aircraft, a summer of celebrities and pianos.

• Concorde, the first and only supersonic commercial aircraft, operated from 1976 to 2003.

• He flew from Royals, Celebrities and Mecores, he was discontinued due to high operating costs.

• The Concorde aircraft is open to public tours at the Intrepid Museum in New York.

A supersonic air trip is something of the past, but you can still tour the plane that made it possible.

In 1962, the Governments of the United Kingdom and France signed the Anglo-French agreement, bringing together their money and resources to develop a supersonic commercial aircraft. The name “Concord” is chosen because it means unity or harmony in both English and French.

The first test flight was held in 1969, and Concord Fluded for the first time in 1976.

Concord’s ability to cross the oceans twice the speed of sound attracted passengers with a high profile, including celebrities, business leaders and members of the royal family. But its high operating costs and a deadly collapse led to its retirement in 2003.

Modern aviation startups are working to revive supersonic passenger travel with new technologies, but they also face challenges about economic viability and safety.

Since the concordated aircraft no longer work, the planes have become museum pieces that provide visitors to the taste of the luxury flights they have ever provided.

In May 2024, I toured Concord Concord at the Intrepid Museum in New York. The museum of the sea, air and space is housed on a 900 -foot aircraft carrier. Look inside.

Concorde’s last flight took off in 2003, and The Intrepid Museum added one of the planes to its collection that year.

A total of 20 Concorde aircraft were built and 14 were commercially available through British Airways and Air France, with most routes flying between New York and London and New York and Paris. The supersonic speed of Concorde caused strong sound storms when breaking the sound barrier, which limited its routes to those above the water.

Concurdes were eventually discontinued due to high operating costs and safety concerns. British Airways spends about 1 billion pounds a year on its Navy from Concorde Jets, which proved to be unstable, according to The Intrepid Museum.

In 2000, Concord, flying from Paris to New York, erupted in flames and crashed shortly after the departure, when a tire blushed torn the airplane fuel tanks, killing 113 people. All Concordes were grounded for one year and recovered with stronger fuel tanks, but the business never recovered, contributing to Concorde retirement.

The record time of Concord from New York to London was 2 hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds, making it a popular choice for frequent travelers.

Celebrity passengers included Queen Elizabeth II, Christie Brinkley, Phil Collins, Paul McCartney and British CEO Fred Fin.

Concorde’s cabin at the Intrepid Museum requires a separate reservation for time.

Regular reception at the Intrepid Museum costs $ 36 per adult, and the Concorde tour costs an additional $ 11. Tickets can be purchased on Intrepid Museum websiteS

I didn’t realize that Concorde’s tickets were sold with tours entry every 30 minutes, so I missed my slot while exploring the USS Growler, the only nuclear rocket submarine open to the US. The manager managed to book me on the next Concord tour at the Museum’s cash desk.

Uploading the aircraft to the Intrepid Museum felt just like a regular flight, except without the noise of a loaded asphalt or jet engine.

Before climbing, Concord’s passengers will be relaxed in a special Concord salon with an open buffet.

The space of Concord’s aboveground bin looked standard to me.

Concord’s passengers would put their luggage at Concord’s salon.

On the tour I have to sit in the Concord class, which was a level above the first class.

With a length of 204 feet and with a fuselage, 9 feet wide 5 inches, Concord’s planes held up to 100 passengers, although full flights were rare. For comparison, the Boeing 737-700 measures just over 110 feet with a 12-foot-4-inch fuselage and is located 149 passengers, according to Boeing.

In the late 1990s and early 2000, tickets cost up to $ 12,000 round trips, which would equal about $ 20,000 today when it is adjusted for inflation.

Queen Elizabeth was always sitting in place 1A.

As a window seat in the first row, 1A was one of the most parting seats on the aircraft.

My seat was more comfortable as a chair than a plane seat.

The seats used on the circumference were covered with plastic to keep the luxury skin.

The Concorde cruise rate was Mach 2, or about 1350 mph.

Each of the four Concorde engines included £ 38,000 thrust and could take the aircraft from zero to 250 mph in less than 30 seconds, our guide said.

Concorde windows were smaller than other planes to prevent them from cracking under the pressure of the supersonic speed of the aircraft.

I was surprised by how small the windows with the windows with commercial flights I was used to.

Our guide has passed around a Concord artifact scanning as a 1997 ticket.

Dolores Peterson paid $ 6,703.04 for Air France Concorde flight from New York to Paris in 1997.

The management also shared a charging sheet since 1976, showing how much fuel used the Concorde aircraft, contributing to its excessive costs.

“After take -off, this plane weighs about 408,000 pounds. More than half of this, 209,000, are only in fuel,” our driver said. “It burns about 2 tonnes of fuel, about 1800 pounds, just a taxi. It’s an extremely thirsty bird.”

After the short presentation was over, we were free to wander in the cabin.

The Concord’s logo was shown near the airplane door.

Custom Custom Kit was exposed – there are no plastic cutlery here.

The food was prepared by a gourmet cook. Seasonal menus included Beef Wellington, deer and quail with pairs of wine selected by sommelier.

The toilet looked like a standard airplane bathroom with a little more space and a few additional amenities.

The bathroom was decorated with fake coverings and additional toiletries.

For me, the focus was peering inside the flight of flights, once occupied by a captain, the first officer and a flying engineer.

Prior to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Concord passengers could be mixed with the pilot and crew in the pilot cabin as part of the exclusive flight experience.

The summer engineer was sitting in the seat right in front of the large tool panel.

The summer engineer was responsible for any system on the aircraft, including for fuel and landing management, and had the broadest training of each crew member.

“He has forgotten more about Concord than most people will ever know,” said our guide to flying engineers.

After the end of my tour of Konkord, I climbed higher to the USS intrepid to get a better look at the historic aircraft.

While many modern celebrities choose to fly private aircraft, Concord offered flights to set records across the ocean with twice the speed of sound, as if worth it.

Read the original Business Insider article